Storm slaps Keys, track uncertain

Monday

Aug 27, 2012 at 2:00 AM

Tropical Storm Isaac barely stirred Florida Keys residents from their fabled nonchalance Sunday, while the Gulf Coast braced for the possibility the sprawling storm will strengthen into a dangerous hurricane by the time it makes landfall there.

MATT SEDENSKY

KEY WEST, Fla. — Tropical Storm Isaac barely stirred Florida Keys residents from their fabled nonchalance Sunday, while the Gulf Coast braced for the possibility the sprawling storm will strengthen into a dangerous hurricane by the time it makes landfall there.

It was on course to strike land on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a powerful storm that crippled New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and became a symbol of government ineptitude. Forecasters expected Isaac to pass the Keys late Sunday before turning northwest and striking as a Category 2 hurricane somewhere between New Orleans and the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued a hurricane warning for a large swath of the northern Gulf Coast from east of Morgan City, La. — which includes New Orleans — to Destin, Fla.

A Category 2 hurricane has sustained winds of between 96 and 110 mph.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant each declared a state of emergency.

The storm was on a course to pass west of Tampa, but there is a likelihood of heavy rain and strong winds there.

Isaac has already caused considerable inconvenience, with more than 550 flights canceled at Miami International Airport and about 150 from Fort Lauderdale's airport. There were scattered power outages from Key West to Fort Lauderdale affecting more than 16,000 customers, and flooding occurred in low-lying areas. No serious damage was reported.

Wind gusts of 60 mph were reported as far north as Pompano Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale. Officials urged residents in southeast Florida to stay home but that recommendation was ignored by surfers and joggers on Miami Beach and shoppers at malls.

Isaac is expected to draw significant strength from the warm, open waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane center forecasters warn it is extremely difficult to determine exactly where it will make a direct hit. Two of their best computer models track the storm on opposite sides of a broad cone. One model has Isaac going well west and the other well east. For now, the predicted track goes up the middle.

The Gulf Coast hasn't been hit by a hurricane since 2008, when Dolly, Ike and Gustav all struck the region.

Before Isaac reached Florida, at least seven people were killed by flooding in Haiti, including in tent cities filled with earthquake victims, and two others in the Dominican Republic. Isaac scraped Cuba, downing power lines and trees. It bore down on the Keys two days after the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, which caused more than $25 billion in damage just north of the island chain.

As of 11 p.m. EDT, the storm was centered about 510 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and had top sustained winds of 65 mph.

And it is a massive system: Tropical storm-force winds extend outward as far as 205 miles from the center.